ICT Helps Consolidate National Unity and Speed up Reconstruction Efficacy  12.04.2006 Kabul Afghanistan: Minister of Communications Amirzai Sangin strongly believes that increased access to information and communication technology (ICT) will not only help further strengthen national unity among Afghans but also render the reconstruction efforts more efficient. Interviewed in his office in connection with the forthcoming National ICT Conference in Afghanistan, to be held in Kabul on April 25 and 26, Mr. Sangin strongly emphasized his conviction that the conference would make a major contribution to creating ICT awareness among the Afghan society. “There is a belief among the youth that if they can learn a little bit of English and have some computer skills they can get a good job. This is wrong, they need to understand the importance of the ICT. This conference will help create increased awareness in the society, including among the key government officials, in particular education officials,” he said. “We are in the age of information and Afghanistan should be part of the information society, ICT should be a part of everyday life in Afghanistan,” Mr. Sangin continued. Pointing to the television in his room showing the live coverage of the confirmation hearings of the new cabinet ministers at the Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of the parliament), Mr. Sangin said, “Regardless of decades of fighting in the country, regardless of their political allegiances, ethnic or linguistic backgrounds, look at our deputies in the Assembly, they are discussing issues in a very civilized manner and this process is being followed by the population. This is how communications are helping national unity”. He also said there were now 1.2 million cell phone owners in the country and that the possibility for the people to communicate existed was a great opportunity for people to understand each other. Asked about the state of inadequate infrastructure in the country, the Minister recalled that four years ago only 20,000 telephone lines had existed in the whole country, that it had not been possible to have international telephone conversations and that Internet had been completely banned. Comparing the current situation to that time, Mr. Sangin underlined that major progress had already been made with many private sector companies being licensed as providers of Internet and mobile phone services. According to the Minister, by the end of 2006, the wireless fixed telephone lines will reach 285,000 allowing not only voice, but also data exchange throughout the network, connecting hundreds of thousands of households around the country. The Minister went on to say that further infrastructure investment plans were prepared and a major project to establish a national optical fiber network would get underway shortly. The project will create the network along the major highway circling the whole territory of the country and broadband connections will be made possible through links to similar networks in the neighboring countries. This project is believed to address two serious problems with the currently used satellite-based communication technology: the high cost and limited bandwidth capacity. As a new Cabinet member, Mr. Sangin said the government was well aware of the need to bring about the changes in the lives of families and improve the living standards of the population and he stressed that the efforts on the ICT sector were directly linked to the overall reconstruction effort. “When you have ICT in place, project implementation becomes much more efficient, timely and accurate, “said the Minister. “Then the contribution of the ICT sector to the reconstruction effort can be clearly visible in the increased effectiveness of implementation,” he concluded. For more information, please contact: Mustafa Eric Sr. Public Information Officer United Nations Development Programme mustafa.eric@undp.org +93 (0)70 157 494 << | >> |
Search for Jobs in:
Afghanistan Kabul Mumbai Dehli Karachi Islamabad Abu dhabi Dehli Singapur London New York Los Angeles Canada
Afghanistan Kabul Mumbai Dehli Karachi Islamabad Abu dhabi Dehli Singapur London New York Los Angeles Canada
Afghanistan Says It Will Sign Cluster Bomb Treaty
French hostage in Kabul released
Rice arrives in India in wake of attacks
2 U.S. Soldiers in Afghan Abuse Probe
2 G.I.?s Investigated
Strategy Shift Poses Stiff Challenge for Obama
U.S. deaths in Afghanistan drop sharply
A brave woman in Afghanistan
Photos